Tribune Newswire

Muskegon Community College’s student newspaper, The Bay Window, won five 2022 journalism awards from the Michigan Community College Press Association (MCCPA), which recently announced the honorees online.

Lance Kemple, an MCC student from Nunica, MI, and a Spring Lake High School graduate, earned first place in the Serious Column category for his article “What they don’t understand about the transgender experience.”

The judges commented, “A warm, thoughtful attempt at welcoming people resistant to transgender-identifying individuals, and others associated with identities considered nontraditional by so many people. Lance’s words and writing voice grab the reader from the opening paragraph, letting them know clearly the intention of the piece with “My name is Lance Klemple, and I am a transgender man.” His words provide vivid imagery and his reference of others’ words offer context that help the reader down a path of discovery; a discovery of the columnist’s identity, and how he traversed that same path.”

MCC student Avery Behnke, a Grand Haven High School graduate, took two second place awards – in the Feature Story category for “Muskegon’s Very Own Lorax” and in First Amendment Reporting for “Breaking down MCC’s Budget.”

Aaron Petersen, who lives in Twin Lake and attended Holton High School, earned second place for his Sports Feature “Alex Breuker: Norton Shores Lacrosse Prodigy” and third place in First Amendment Reporting for “MCC Administration to Propose Tuition Freeze.”

MCC’s Allysa Baade, a Reeths-Puffer High School graduate, earned third place for her Feature Story “Shipping Container Becomes Beachfront Canvas.”

“This year was tough as The Bay Window was redesigned, reformatted, and faced a world of uncertainty during the start of the COVID pandemic,” said MCC instructor Jessica Dennis, who serves as the newspaper’s advisor. “Nevertheless, they found and kept a staff of amazing writers, photographers, graphic design artists, and editors. I am so very proud of all my staff’s hard work since BW went fully online. Every time I asked, they all answered.”

To view these stories and more: www.baywindowmcc.com.